Freddie Flintoff’s hit series Field of Dreams has been renewed for a third season after the cricket superstar returned to TV following his car crash in Top Gear.
The series saw Mr Flintoff take a group of young men from Preston, Lancashire, on a cricket tour of India to show how the sport could change their lives.
The cricket superstar’s series came to an end on Tuesday night but the BBC has already started filming the third series.
A source close to the show told the Daily Mirror: ‘Freddie’s last two series have been a huge success and he and the boys have loved making them.
‘The BBC jumped at the chance to do a third series.’
Freddie Flintoff’s hit series Field of Dreams has been renewed for a third season
The series saw Mr Flintoff take a group of young men from Preston, Lancashire, on a cricket tour of India to show how the sport could change their lives. The cricket superstar’s series came to an end on Tuesday night but the BBC has already started filming the third series.
The second season of the show was nearly canceled after Mr Flintoff’s crash in December 2022 where his car flipped over at Dunsfold airfield in Surrey – leaving him ‘lucky to be alive’
The third series, which will air later this year, will see the Preston boys teaming up with youths from neighbouring Blackpool.
It is reported by the source that both groups of young men enjoyed winding each other with the boys from Preston claiming the new group from Blackpool are ‘too posh for them.’
In the season finale the cricketers faced their toughest challenge yet — the match at Kolkata Football & Cricket Club.
Not only that, but as thoughts turned to heading back to the UK, Flintoff sat down for a one-to-one chat with each of the boys — to address their worries or concerns. They took part in the Hindu festival of Holi, watched Kushti wrestling and sat down for a tarot reading.
Viewers have been loving the series, labelling it ‘the best of British TV’ and ‘truly inspirational’.
Mr Flintoff received praise for his approach to comforting the boys – such as Finn after he found a glitzy dinner party with top West Bengal figures overwhelming.
Mr Flintoff received praise for his approach to comforting the boys – such as Finn (pictured) after he found a glitzy dinner party with top West Bengal figures overwhelming
They have even called for Flintoff to receive a BAFTA and a Sports Personality of The Year award.
However, the season was nearly canceled after Mr Flintoff’s crash in December 2022 where his car flipped over at Dunsfold airfield in Surrey – leaving him ‘lucky to be alive’.
Mr Flintoff, who reportedly reached a £9million settlement with the BBC over the crash which was paid for by the broadcaster’s commercial arm, quit Top Gear in the aftermath and it has since been put on hiatus.
He opened up about the crash for the first time during the show. The presenter told how it had been ‘so hard to cope’ with crippling anxiety leaving him unable to leave the house in the months following the incident.
The ex-England captain’s openness moved viewers of the programme to tears, with many praising him for discussing his struggles following the crash.